WASHINGTON, D.C. – The government will be using electronic tattoos to monitor “suspicious” citizens.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The government will be using electronic tattoos to monitor “suspicious” citizens.

The micro-electronics technology, called an epidermal electronic system (EES), was developed by an international team of researchers from the United States, China and Singapore, and is described in the journal Science.

“It’s a technology that blurs the distinction between electronics and biology,” said co-author John Rogers, a professor in materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Our goal was to develop an electronic technology that could integrate with the skin in a way that is mechanically and physiologically invisible to the user.”

The patch could be used instead of bulky electrodes to monitor brain, heart and muscle tissue activity and when placed on the throat it allowed users to operate a voice-activated video game with better than 90 percent accuracy.

The U.S. government is going to use the technology to “brand” certain citizens. “It’s going to be another tool used by HomeLand Security,” said Jay Carney, the White House Spokesman. “The FBI will choose certain individuals, call them in for questioning and give them a permanent electronic tattoo, so we can track their movements and, perhaps, their thoughts.”

Rogers said that his technology “could also form the basis of a sub-vocal communication capability, suitable for covert or other uses.”

The wireless device is nearly weightless and requires so little power it can fuel itself with miniature solar collectors or by picking up stray or transmitted electromagnetic radiation, the study said.

Less than 50-microns thick — slightly thinner than a human hair — the devices are able to adhere to the skin without glue or sticky material.

“Forces called van der Waals interactions dominate the adhesion at the molecular level, so the electronic tattoos adhere to the skin without any glues and stay in place for hours,” said the study.

Northwestern University engineer Yonggang Huang said the patch was “as soft as the human skin.”

Rogers and Huang have been working together on the technology for the past six years. They have already designed flexible electronics for hemispherical camera sensors and are now focused on adding battery power and other energy options.

The “epidermal electronic system” relies on a highly flexible electrical circuit composed of snake-like conducting channels that can bend and stretch without affecting performance. The circuit is about the size of a postage stamp, is thinner than a human hair and sticks to the skin by natural electrostatic forces rather than glue.

“We think this could be an important conceptual advance in wearable electronics, to achieve something that is almost unnoticeable to the wearer. The technology can connect you to the physical world and the cyberworld in a very natural way that feels comfortable,” said Professor Todd Coleman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research team.

The government jumped on the technology. Now, the only question is, who will be branded with the U.S. electronic tattoo?